Title says it all. For those of you who are defenders, what kind of strategies do you use in match play? I’m currently at a stage where everything I do in match play is based on instinct and predicting where my opponent is sending the ball; do you guys have a relative strategy for games in general? What kind of tactics do you use?

1) If they serve short to my BH (LP) most cases I try to rush the opponent, off the bounce, so they don't have much time to react and they usually make mistakes. I also sometimes attack with my LP which usually hits them unexpected.

2) Bassicly whatever comes to my FH I attack.

3) Depending on what serves they do, I sometimes move more towards my FH corner, twiddle so I have inverted on my BH, and then recieve like any attacker would ( twiddling back after).

Match play:

Pretty much, I try my best to get them looping to my pips, where I chop as heavily as possible to force them into weaker loops. Whenever something comes to my FH, I spin as hard as possible wide, this scares the opponent, making them not want to hit to my FH, and play to my pips. If they try to get away with just playing high spins, very slow to my pips, which can be a struggle to chop, I come round the corner and aggressively attack with FH. All of this, after a set or two getting used to their tactics, I've got them into most choppers practical situation of the opponent trying to spin as hard as they can to the BH (LP) which keeps coming back to them, forcing them into errors quickly.

A commen problem for choppers is people touching short after a chop and bringing you in, expecting a push back. If you can build up a strong pimple attack, or be able to twiddle and flick, this will really put your opponent off, and you'll find they will do it less, again, them ending up just spinning to your pips.

Even if I don't consider myself a defender while actually using a Yinhe 955 next to the CJ8000 I do think that strategy is the key to success. Here's one of it: Usually I try impress with the forehand quite early so the opponent will prefer to get the ball on my backhand first. My serve is quite simple here, medium to short in his forehand or at the middle and narrowly over the net with some variations in spin. Having the return on my pimple gives the opportunity to put the ball on the persons' position or on the edge, from where the return often results in an attacking opportunity for me. Of course, I can't use this move all the time but the ratio of success is still kind of stunning.

(the most annoying as of lately are some new club-members wanting me to play more calmly and with more focus on defense when noticing the pimples - one said to me that I can't smash with it and I would have to use the CJ8000 instead, which is bollocks, simply put)

Get the ball back on the table one more time than your opponent. (sorry, but it had to be said).

Don't let your opponent get into a rhythm unless it is to your advantage to set them up for a sucker ball or your surprise shot.

Focus on what they are (relatively) bad at. This is where you will often use the first game of a match as a sacrificial game. You may lose it but have hopefully gained valuable information on your opponent's strengths and weaknesses.

Written from the point of view of a retriever, which is not a million miles from being a defender.

Thanks, guys; I'll be sure to keep your advice in mind. ModernDef, I notice you said that you attack with your LP; I use an SP (see my signature), because I wanted to be able to attack with my BH and also because I used to use double-inverted. How do I incorporate SP attacking into my game? I will say that Yuto Muramatsu is one of my inspirations for my decision to become a defender, as well as Joo.

EDIT: To be more specific, how do I set up opportunities for attacking with my SP on my BH? What's the technique I should use? Finally, how can I recognize that the opportunity to attack with my SP is present?

At my level, I'll get a lot of unforced errors from simply twiddling and pushing heavy with inverted occasionally on the backhand side. Fairly low risk shot. If they do return it, you've now reintroduced spin to the rally and can use the pips to attack!

Sorry, didn't notice you were using SP. Assuming you chop with them, this is what I'd say (btw I'm no expert on sp, but I know the concept.)

A huge advantage of using SP is returning serve. A huge problem LP players have is that, as it's difficult to attack and pushing usually gives a float. So with the SP advantage, do what you feel comfortable doing but also remember you can attack.

When chopping, this is my idea. If someone brings you in (touch or push), this is a huge opportunity to attack. They'd expect a push back usually, but a flick (or whatever it's called with SP) will suprise them. So overall, my advise would be, keep on chopping, counter with SP on BH if they're just rolling the ball to it, and attack with SP when brought in.

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